Research Interests

Professor Frechette was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley in 2005 and received her Ph.D. from Princeton University in Chemical Engineering and Materials Science in 2005, her M.A. from Princeton University in 2000, and her B.Eng. from Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal in Materials Engineering in 1998. She currently serves as the department’s Director of Master’s Studies.

In interfacial science, there is an unprecedented opportunity to create new assemblies and devices on the micro- and nanoscale. At these length scales, surface-to-volume ratios are large, and control over interfacial properties is key to the success of these endeavors. Her group is creating powerful approaches to control any micro- and nanoscale system by developing a better understanding of how we can manipulate interfacial properties, either externally via the use of a stimulus or internally via the design of surface structure. More specifically, our research objective is to elucidate the role played by an electric field or surface structure (or both) in modulating interfacial properties such as wetting or adhesion. Using approaches from the molecular to the macroscale, we provide a mechanistic understanding of the phenomena at play.